Remember the hula hoop? The Dunkin’ Yo-Yo? These are metaphors for the American mind, maybe the world mind. They were instant hits. Everyone had one or had to have one. Then they were gone. Such was the brilliance, intended or accidental, of the Palestinian slaughter in Israel. It happened three weeks ago. Except for the hostages, it’s old news. The Israeli vowed revenge; they said it would be long, costly, and bloody. And it is. This now, every day, is the new news stoked by death and injury numbers issued by Hamas. Not that the toll hasn’t been and won’t continue to be terrible, but again, just like the hospital bombing and announced 500 deaths, the source is dubious.
It seems a foregone conclusion by all the talking head experts, that in a matter of weeks all the Palestinians, Hamas or not, will be shell-shocked from bombing, half-starved, sick, dying or dead from lack of adequate food and medicine. While you are asking questions, ask why Egypt has a choke hold on entry point for supplies and has stated clearly it will not allow Palestinians to seek refuge in the Sinai. Lord knows the Sinai is big enough. Take a second look at map. Here’s one to get you started.
There are two extant questions. One is how to get the hostages back in a safe and timely way. The other is what’s next? What happens when bombing stops and the missiles still raining down on Israel slow to a manageable pace? Another question to ask? Why aren’t the Gazans getting enough water? It isn’t that there isn’t any. It’s in part because Hamas rips up the streets, cuts up the pipes, and uses them for building rockets. But back to “next?” My answer is to set up, as soon as possible, a Palestinian government in exile.
It would have to be harbored outside of the conflict area, maybe even in Europe or Africa. This would make protecting its members easier. While not easy, I believe one could find enough people to form a governing cabinet and to elect itself a leader. We know that Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Emirates have contacts in Gaza and with those who both support Hamas and those who don’t. Pickin’s might be slim but not so slim for this to be impossible.
The second step would to shift all the aid money to this entity. That will immediately kick Hamas directly in the pocketbook. Additional sources of money would be similarly directed. This money, probably best kept either by the UN or in Switzerland, would be a fund upon which the new government would draw. The cabinet in exile would then set up an administration. Each department would create plans and a budget. The people in Gaza would see what their future would be if they accepted a new reality.
Next would come a peace-keeping force. It has been suggested that this would be a Pan-Arab force. My preference would be a UN peace-keeping force made up from countries through out the world. It would, however, have to be empowered to protect itself and to take appropriate actions against subversives. It would also be responsible for guarding the flow of humanitarian aid that must be started immediately after the war ends and the warehouses in which the aid is stored.
And if the UN isn’t up to the task or its own arcane politics prevent it from taking over, then create a comity of nations to do exactly the same things. That suggestion might well kick the UN into gear.
Once relative peace and security has come to Gaza the government in exile would establish itself in Gaza. If the worthless and corrupt Palestinian Authority managed to hold itself together, so could the government now no longer in exile. Unlike the Palestinian Authority it would have an absolute expiration date say three years, maybe five. That would allow enough time for brick and mortar goals to have gotten underway all over Gaza. This Marshall-type plan should also be given the six billion Iranian dollars being held from them. Why? Iran created the political and financial environment for this to happen, added endless military supplies and sat back and watched. At another time we’ll look into the what’s next to the north, with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Can this work? My answer is you don’t know unless you try.
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